Silver paint for engine casings?????

Hi! I'm soon about to start cleaning up my CB550F2 and most of th
silver paint on the lower engine casing had perished. Can anyone advis
me on which paint to use on the engine casings? Living in the UK
obviously need something readily available over here.

Something presumably fairly high-temp. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Tom

 

let me know how you go painting your cases, I'm just about to do mine
too. What sort of paint did you find? Are you using a primer of any
sort?

 

fwiw, one guy on the vfrlist (lives in the US) got his cam covers
powdercoated in a silvery-metallic color. He seemed happy with the job,
in terms of price, time, and result. He posted pictures of the covers,
and they looked pretty good. You'd have to check locally for suppliers,
prices, etc., if you were interested in this sort of thing, but it is an
option.

--
Later,
John



'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

 

talking to a couple old timer hot rodders who told me about a powder
coating that looks just like the old chrome from back in the day as they
call it ,when they would put a heavy plate of nickle on instead of these
thin coats that they use now,but they had told me (and I saw an example
this past year at a show)once it is polished up its kind of hard to tell
it from actual
chrome but it takes alot more of a beating then real chrome and it won't
discolor ,and it still is pretty good at heat dissipitation .
But like anything it all depends on the person and what he/she likes
,but personally there is a place to use real plating ,a place to use
powder coating ,and a place to use paint .

 

I also want to add that since this is torn down it would be a good time
to do some touching up work of the castings ,like go in and smooth up
the jagged edges and seams from the casting process ,you will not
believe how good it will make it look and all you really need is a good
file and patience (mostly).
The only difference between a show bike and a stock bike is the details
..

 

Hi Ben,
Go to...

http://tinyurl.com/7vsr8

and you'll see an option there from Hycote. I'm personally not going t
use any primer

 

Try Eastwoods Alumablast. I've never used it, but I've see the results at
several bike shows and it looks very nice.

D

 

I would check with the manufacturer first. I have seen paint lift
completely off aluminum creating a huge mess as some areas stuck well and
most other areas didn't.

 

I've seen this too on different things from VW engines to V-8's ,what
causes this is that aluminum is naturally poros and any lil bit oil on
it will be stuck in the surface of the metal real good (like trying to
run water across a pot hole loaded road all the holes fill with water)
and because of this the paint can"t get a good adhesion thats why the
pros always bead blast the parts first to give them a nice clean surface
to paint and alot of pro's use alumablast or similiar paint that gives
the aluminum that fresh cast look and that is another thing about
aluminum it stains real easy.
ride long ride safe

 

Thanks for that link. I just beadblasted my engine using AC-6 grade
glass beads. Came up very nice, looks new. I concentrated on areas
around the cylinder head fins, probably should have given the cases a
proper go while I was at it. I was actually planning on using the VHT
brake caliper paint, which is rated at 490oC. I've had pretty good
success using this on aluminium without priming, but am a bit hesitant
to use it on the engine... it's a lot harder to redo once it's all
installed!

Let us know how you go, or post some pics!

Ben.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded to the original question. I appreciat
it.

And Davo..... I'm personally not trying to achieve show-condition, jus
trying to clean up the old girl. She's lookin like a 70's tart right no


Tom